The Israeli six-year-old who was the sole survivor of a horrific Alpine cable car crash has been abducted from Italy by his grandfather and taken to Israel, according to claims in the Italian press.
Eitan Biran, whose parents, great-grandparents and younger brother were all killed when a cable snapped and their cabin plunged into the side of a mountain near Lake Maggiore in May, has been the subject of a bitter custody battle between the Italian and Israeli sides of his family.
On being released from hospital in June, Eitan was placed in the care of his aunt his paternal aunt, Aya Biran-Nirko, who lives in the northern Italian town of Pavia with her husband and two daughters.
However, Eitan’s maternal aunt, Gali Peleg, who is Israeli, told the Times that she feared the boy would lose his Jewish identity in Italy and accused Biran-Nirko and her family of abducting him.
